Where to look for a child's bed

[minipie]

DD is coming up for 4, she's in a converted cotbed but we need that for DD2 so need to get DD her first "proper" bed soon.

Where are good places to look? The places I have thought of are John Lewis, GLTC, Next (?), Mothercare... Where else? Is there anywhere that has a particularly good or bad reputation for quality, as I want it to last a long time and she's not the gentlest of children...

Also - daft question - is a child bed different from a single bed or can I just look at any single beds (would obviously open up the options a lot possibly too much for my poor fried brain)

thank you!

You can get a normal single bed for a 4 yo - we move our kids to normal singles at 4. My 5 yo loves his Ikea day bed :o Older kids got bunk bed style beds (not Ikea but local furniture store that sells solid wood furniture - expensive ish but very solid, Ikea bunk beds don't seem that solid) at 5 but day bed is a brilliant long term option.

Thanks! For some reason I never thought of ikea (would prefer wood I think). Confused though - why is a day bed more long term than a normal bed?

Ah no - not more long term than a normal bed - I just meant more long term than a "child's" bed or even a bunk or mid sleeper bed, just because it's more adult / older teen suitable than a bunk bed or mid sleeper (which an adult can sleep in but might feel as if they are camping out in a small child's room) might feel.

If you've got a healthy budget DD got a full size solid wood bunk bed with cushions that allow the bottom bunk to be set up as a sofa, when she was 5 - she still loves it at 11 as the bottom bunk is a place to chill out with her friends and better than an air bed for sleep over friends.

Ah I see what you mean!

Unfortunately I don't think we can go for a mid sleeper or bunk as DD has some slight mobility issues so would struggle getting up and down, at least at nighttime for the loo. So a boring low bed it is, I think. I reckon she'd like a day bed though, and it would stop all her toys and books falling down the side, so will look into those!

We just got our dd (4) a single bed with trundle (bed underneath) from here www.easyfurniture-shop.co.uk/children/childrens-beds.html and were pleased with it, they have a decent range, mid-priced

Thanks! Their trundle bed does look nice - and has reminded me DD will want to do sleepovers some day (eeek!) So getting a bed with trundle is a good solution and also helps me narrow the options down.